Last week, President Obama visited the eighth grade science class at Parkville Middle School and Center for Technology in Baltimore before unveiling his fiscal year 2012 budget proposal. Read more about the STEM education initiatives in the President’s FY2012 budget in this issue of the NSTA Legislative Update.

Planning and preparing for science fair and end-of-year projects? There are a number of ways that the National Lab Network can help.

Many of you participated in National Lab Day (NLD) last year. Well, NLD has expanded and rebranded to National Lab Network (NLN) NLN gives you instant access to thousands of volunteer scientists, engineers, technology experts and even mathematicians who are waiting to help you!

These STEM-professionals can help you

Judge a science fair

Mentor individual student projects

Plan cool post-testing projects and activities

Organize field trips

And much more!

Just go to www.nationallabnetwork.org, sign up (you're already signed up if you are part of National Lab Day), and check out the Community section. Click on STEM-based professionals, search in your area (ZIP or city/state), e-mail one, two, a dozen people telling them how they can help YOU. Be sure to post a Project (include the date, time and location/contact information of any fairs, events, etc) so the volunteers can also look for you.

NLN is designed to bring people together, but often you'll have to take the first step. Be assertive- send multiple emails to the volunteer "matches" and reach out to this exciting network of experts waiting to get involved in YOUR school, YOUR classroom and ultimately help you!

Will you be in San Francisco at the NSTA National conference? To learn more about NLN, please attend an informational session at NSTA in San Francisco on Friday at 12:30 presented by Camsie Matis, an experienced science and math teacher and part of the NLN leadership team. You can also stop by the NLN booth to sign up, learn more or find volunteers for your classroom!"

Many educators are focusing on the Gulf Oil Spill as a unifying interdisciplinary theme to explore throughout the school year. During a National Environmental Education Foundation webinar on February 23, educators will have an opportunity to interact with Robert Twilley of Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences. He will provide information on the timeline and effects of the 2010 Gulf oil spill and answer questions about the spill and its long-term consequences. Participants will also learn about the National Wildlife Federation's Oil Spill educational materials and service projects and find out how teachers and students can get involved.

The webinar, to be held at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, will be available to registered National Environmental Education Week 2011 participants. Registration for EE Week is free. For those who can’t see it live, the webinar will be archived. Visit the Teaching About the Gulf Oil Spill website for more information and to register.

Need other ideas for interdisciplinary themes? Check out the professional development opportunities on the NSTA Calendar.

Take advantage of NSTA Symposia offered at the National Conference on Science Education. These half-day, high-quality, standards-based programs are designed to help educators increase their content knowledge and collect new ideas for classroom activities.
Check out the following symposia:

Symposia are ticketed programs—registration to the conference is required to attend. Most programs have a $60 stipend for participants who complete the symposium. For more information and to register, visit learningcenter.nsta.org/symposia.

Mark Your Calendars for the K–12 STEM Education Policy Conference This July

This is one summer event you will not want to miss. Six leading STEM organizations—including NSTA, the American Chemical Society, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, the STEM Education Coalition, and the Hands-On Science Partnership—will be hosting an amazing conference this July 12–13 in Washington DC solely dedicated to STEM education policy. If you are interested in the future of STEM education, and want to make your voice heard, then plan now to join us this summer.

In just a few weeks, thousands of science educators will meet in San Francisco at the National Conference on Science Education. Scheduled for March 10–13, attendees can expect entertaining and inspiring speakers, hands-on workshops, strategies for better student performance, techniques that work in the classroom, and an exhibit hall that houses visiting companies with the newest products. More than 2,000 sessions, a “Science Matters” town hall, short courses, and in depth PD institutes are planned. Listed below are just a few of the workshops being offered:

Diagnosing What Students Know Before Science Instruction

So You Think You Teach Inquiry in Middle School? Moving Teachers from Traditional to Inquiry Investigations

Playing with Ecosystem Science: Informal Modeling Games to Explore the Delicate Balance (Middle/Informal)

There is still plenty of time to register your team for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. Join K–12 students and teachers nationwide in this exciting sustainability competition to solve environmental problems and win over $300,000 in grant prizes. The deadline for all entries is March 15, 2011. Finalists will be announced on May 2 and the national winners will be announced May 18. For more information, visit www.wecanchange.com.

In episode 59 of NSTA’s Lab Out Loud podcast, hosts Brian Bartel and Dale Basler discuss evolution education with Dr. Eric Plutzer, coauthor of “Defeating Creationism in the Courtroom, But Not in the Classroom,” a recently published article in Science magazine. Dr. Plutzer talks to Lab Out Loud about the paper and what the results reveal about how much evolution is actually being taught in biology classrooms across the nation.

Academy Courses are a convenient way to enhance your understanding of the living world. Providing a unique opportunity to examine the life sciences of zoology, ecology and conservation, the Online Teacher Academy offers learning with:

Click on the logo above for more information and to register for these free professional development opportunities.

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Professional
development courses in your future?Online options give you a world of choice.
Take a look at these groups offering courses
for science educators!
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